Pickled Cucumber Salad

I love this salad: let me just get that out in the open right now. This is a salad that my sister Mica has made for several family get-togethers. Every time she makes it, I savor it and love every bite, then beg for the recipe...and then she promptly forgets to give it to me. I was finally able to get the recipe from her (because I needed to bring this to her birthday dinner!) and I am thrilled to be able to make it any time I want to now.

It's super simple (only 5 ingredients) and even quicker if you use a food processor to slice the cucumbers. This is a great way to use up extra cucumbers from your garden (and shallots and jalapenos if you grow those too--our jalapenos died but our shallots did great!). It tastes fresh and delicious, just perfect for enjoying during these last weeks of summer (can you tell I'm going through summer-is-ending denial? I keep posting all sorts of summery recipes because I want to hang on to summer just as long as I can). We served this with Thai chicken, rice, and Matt's Thai Chicken soup (how do we not have a picture of that? It is amazing)! I had the leftovers the next day with a BLT. Pretty much, it's good with just about anything, and makes for a very refreshing side dish!

Pickled Cucumber Salad

2 English (hot house) cucumbers, thinly sliced
2 Tb. salt
4 medium shallots, thinly sliced
2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup + 2 Tb. granulated sugar

1. Toss sliced cucumber with salt (the salt draws the excess liquid out of the cucumber, this is important so that the salad is not waterery). Let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature, discard liquid, and pat cucumber dry with paper towels.
2. Toss together cucumbers, shallots, and jalapenos. Combine vinegar and sugar in small bowl and mix well. Pour over cucumber mixture and stir to combine. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 24 hours. (I think this is best about 2 hours after it is made, that way the cucumber has time to soak up the vinegar but it doesn't get mushy).

Grilled Chicken Gyros

One of my favorite food bloggers, Annie, calls this her all-time favorite meal. If you've seen the things Annie makes, you'll know that everything she makes looks amazing, so if it's her favorite, it must be amazing. I made this for dinner last week and I was not disappointed. I wouldn't go so far as to call it my favorite meal by any means, but all in all it was a great meal and nice to have something a little different. I would definitely make it again (only next time I'd make twice as much chicken and save half for another night to eat with rice and grilled veggies, that chicken was incredible).

Grilled Chicken Gyros
adapted slightly from Annie's Eats

Chicken:
2 heaping Tb. plain Greek yogurt (Yoplait makes this now and I was able to find it at Wal-Mart, or you can use regular plain yogurt but it is not as thick)
4 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 1/2 lemon
1 Tb. dried oregano
2 Tb. olive oil
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (breasts, tenders, or thighs)

Tzatziki Sauce:
8 oz. plain Greek yogurt
1/2 hot house (English) cucumber, shredded, or 1 regular cucumber, peeled, seeded, and shredded
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 Tb. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tb. olive oil

4 pitas (I recommend whole wheat)
2 tomatoes, sliced
1/2 hot house cucumber, sliced
1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced

1. Combine all chicken ingredients in large ziploc bag. Marinade in refrigerator for at least 1 hour and not more than 4 hours.
2. Prepare tzatziki sauce by first squeezing excess water from cucumbers. Place shredded cucumbers in papers towels and twist until the excess moisture is removed. Combine all tzatziki ingredients except olive oil. Drizzle tzatziki with olive oil, cover, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat grill to medium-high. Grill chicken until completely cooked (about 5 minutes per side, depending on the type of chicken pieces you have). Let rest for 5 minutes after cooking, then cut into slices.
4. Heat pita bread (either in the oven or on the grill). Assemble pitas by layering 1/4 of the chicken, onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers on each of the 4 pitas. Top with desired amount of tzatziki sauce and serve immediately.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

This is a great salad for warm summer days. It is light, refreshing, healthy and quick. As a bonus, it uses up veggies that you probably have growing in your garden. Today it snowed (seriously) in Utah, and in rebellion I thought I would whip this up and pretend it was summer. Although I didn't enjoy the snow, I thought the salad was amazing and I'm contemplating having it for dinner too...

Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Adapted from Rachael Ray

3/4 cup cucumber, halved lengthwise and sliced
3/4 cup cherry, pear, or grape tomatoes, halved
3 - 4 Tb. finely chopped sweet red or yellow onion (such as Vidalia)
1 Tb. olive oil
1 Tb. red wine vinegar
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Toss all ingredients together and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Feel free to adjust the amounts of the ingredients to your liking. You can also add fresh basil, parsley, green onion, chives, garlic, etc. if desired.